


Fighter Pilot Blues

by MizuLeKitten



Series: Garrison Days [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternative Universe - Garrison, Breaking and Entering, Chatting & Messaging, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Insecure Keith (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Pre-Relationship, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), its for a good cause I swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 08:51:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11010069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizuLeKitten/pseuds/MizuLeKitten
Summary: Something’s up, and Keith can’t put his finger on it. He’s not stupid though, and if there’s something wrong with Lance, he’ll be there to help. Even if he’s not the best at it.“Don’t worry about it, man! You know what they called me in flight school? They called me the Tailor because of how I thread the needle.” Lance looked back at Keith and waggled his eyebrows.“God danmit, Lance, we’re still in flight school!” Keith bit out before his eyes went wide, “Fuck, Lance, watch out!”Takes place after Garrison Days :3





	Fighter Pilot Blues

Keith’s footsteps echoed lightly through the hallway as he walked. Cadets lingered outside rooms, chatting about their days, but Keith ignored them all. He was lost in his own thoughts, something that occurred fairly often. He had a test coming up in astrophysics, and, even though Keith was amazing in the simulator, these concepts alluded him.

He sighed and hiked his bag up higher on his shoulder.

Study nights had become a common theme between him and Lance after a particular bad test. Lance had promoted himself from friend status to mentor status as soon as he found out how poorly Keith had done. He was so much better at explaining these concepts than any of Keith’s professors were, rivaling even his tutor Shiro. Lance claimed it was good review, and in return Keith got an actual understanding of whatever topic they were on.

“Whoa, Keith’s smiling,” Hunk exclaimed, coming up from behind him and startling Keith out of his thoughts. “Sorry man, didn’t mean to scare you,” he smiled.

Keith waved him off, “I was just thinking.”

“What about?” Hunk easily fell into step with Keith.

“Just the material I need to go over for the next test.”

“Oh, well, Lance is set up in our room already. He’s been at it since class let out.” Hunk supplied.

Odd, Lance didn’t normally hunker down to study until Keith got there. Keith gave him a small, appreciative smile anyways, “thanks, big guy.” The nickname rolled of his lips easily, and he was momentarily shocked by how easy all _this_ had become.

Hunk used to just be another annoying classmate, someone that Keith thought should be grounded immediately, if he kept up the puking thing he did. Keith waved at Hunk when they separated at a corner. Now he actually _knew_ Hunk. He knew that Hunk loved engineering, but loved cooking more. His family consisted of two loving mothers and a energetic little sister, and they owned a bakery in their home town. He knew Hunk now, he wasn’t just a face, and that was all thanks to Lance.

Lance, Keith couldn’t help the spring in his step at thinking about his friend. That’s right, Lance was his _friend_. Lance was energetic, high maintenance, and flamboyant, so you’d think that that would make it difficult for Keith to maintain an actual friendship with the man. Shiro certainly had been surprised.

_“My underclassmen is growing up,” Shiro swooned. “Growing up and leaving the nest. I’m so proud.”_

_“You’re both fucking insane,” Keith groaned. He shouldn’t have told Shiro anything.“No wonder I get along with him.”_

That may have prompted a tickle match that Keith may or may not have lost. Safe to say, he would counter any and all arguments made by other classmates that Shiro was “mature.”. He had more than enough experience to know, and prove, otherwise.

Shiro was also surprised by what had been one of their bigger bonding agents. _Everyday_ by David Levithan had certainly helped to bridge the gap that their first encounter had formed. It made getting used to one another easier when they both had something in common. After _Everyday_ they had moved onto _Two Boys Kissing,_ and some of David’s other works.

And because of that, Lance was his friend, and having the other boy around all the time was something he looked forward to, something he expected. They had gotten to the point where they didn’t need the books to have a conversation, but it was still nice to talk about them. They still occasionally referred books to one another.

Keith didn’t always spend time with Lance though, the other boy had many friends, and the large groups quickly overwhelmed Keith, but Lance always made sure there was time for Keith. Lance was impressive like that, balancing social and academic like it was nothing. If only his piloting would improve…

Keith looked up at the door, it was decorated with paper planets and stars, which he learned was Hunk and Lance’s first mission when they had moved into the dorm, and smiled. He remembered waking up one morning, not to long ago, to Lance and Hunk at his door with art supplies. They set up shop in his single and started cutting out designs and shapes. By the end of the morning, Keith’s door was transformed from dull gray paint to a starry landscape.

Keith typed in the pin to the room. Lance had given it to him when study nights became a thing, and waited for the door to woosh open.

The room was separated clearly, but not by a physical line. No, this “line” was very much so in how the two halves were organized. One side was immaculately kept, the only disorder centering on the desk, and even that looked well taken care of to some respect. Lance’s side… Well, the fact that Lance’s bed was covered with papers and textbooks should give a good hint as to what the rest of his area was like.

“Dude, ever heard of _knocking._ I could’ve been changing!” The heat in Lance’s words were counteracted by Lance’s large grin.

Keith rolls his eyes at the others dramatics, “I wouldn’t have seen anything impressive.”

Lance’s face pinched in mock outrage. “I’ll have you know that I take excellent care of my body! You’d be blessed to lay your eyes on me,” he gestured to himself.

Keith couldn't help but snort as he sat down on the floor in front of Lance's bed, “Yeah, yeah, you've told me all about your skincare routine.”

“And yet you still take none of it to heart,” Lance said with a dramatic sigh, “I can just hear your pores screaming out to be cleansed. The tiny _save me’s_ that are wiped out everyday you go without following my routine.” He placed a hand on his forehead and swooned, “the tragedy!”

“Thanks for the concern, Mr. Dramatic. Instead of lecturing me on my “poor” skin care, you should help me with the Calculus homework instead.” Keith plopped himself down in front of Lance’s bed, pulling out his study supplies.

“I feel so used,” Lance whined before crawling towards the edge of the bed, so he could peak over Keith’s shoulder. “Do you need help right away, or…?”

“I should be able to get the first few problems, but later on I’ll probably need help.” Keith admitted, flipping through the sheets of paper. “God, I hate math.”

“Dude, same.” Lance flopped back onto his bed, and Keith winced at the sound of crinkling paper.

“At least you’re decent at it.”

“Yeah, well, being somewhat good at _only_ math isn’t going to help me in the long run. Not like your ability to fly the sims.”

Keith grunted in response, not know what else to say, as he settled down to work on his problems. They fell into a comfortable silence, one only interrupted by the sound of papers and pens. It was nice how they could settle down like this. Normally Lance was talkative, but he knew the importance of studying. Plus, if he really had to talk, he could easily drone on about Calculus or other topics Keith was having a hard time with. Normally there was a small amount of complaining here and there, especially when Professor Sendak assigned a giant workload to be completed by next class.

Keith leaned back so his head was resting against the bed and sighed. God he really hated Calc. He looked up, ready to admit defeat and pass the reigns of knowledge over to Lance, but paused. Lance was sitting with his legs drawn close to his chest, hands tucked in between his chest and legs. His head was resting on his knees in a defeated slump.

“Lance?” At his name, Lance startled and looked up. “You okay?”

Lance opened his mouth and then closed it, as if reconsidering what he was about to say. “I’m just tired. I think I’m going to turn in now.”

Keith nodded slowly, not buying the lie, but not knowing how to call it out. “Want me to leave?”

“If you don’t mind…” Lance shuffled around, gathering his papers in a semi neat pile.

“I can head to Shiro’s and ask him for help, so.” Keith packed his bag up, standing and stretching. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, yeah, see you then.” Lance tried for cheery, but something in his voice fell flat.

Keith made his way to the door, and paused. He turned and looked Lance up and down one more time. “Sleep well.”

“Thanks, buddy.” Lance said.

Keith left the dorm and paused in the hallway. That wasn’t how tired Lance acted. Tired Lance was grumpy, and complained. He still demanded attention, and made his plight known. Something was up.

Keith shook his head, willing the dilemma out of his mind. It was fine. He’d head to Shiro’s, get help, and see Lance’s cheery disposition tomorrow. He wouldn’t let this bother him.

~*~

“Something’s wrong Shiro, I’m not an idiot.” Keith paced back and forth across his friend/tutor’s dorm. He had let it bother him.

“He might just be stressed. The Garrison isn’t a walk in the park for everyone.” Shiro commented from his desk, where he was looking over some of his own work.

“I know that, but this just seems… I don’t know, different I guess. We always do homework together, he should know he can ask me if he’s stuck. I may not know the answer, but, like, whenever we work together we get the answer eventually.” He stopped in the center of the room with a huff, and crossed his arms. “Plus he hardly ever gets frustrated with homework. He’s good at figuring things out, so it can’t be that.”

“Sounds like you really care for him.” Shiro finally looked up from his work to shoot Keith a knowing smirk.

Keith felt his face flush, “Shiro- that’s- no! I mean, of course I care for him, he’s my friend! Friends care about each other! At least most do,” he shot Shiro an accusatory glare.

Shiro barked out a laugh and turned around in his chair so that he was straddling it. “Come on, you know I care. If I didn’t I would’ve let you get caught when you were sneaking out last week.”

“ _You’re_ the reason I was sneaking out,” Keith shot back, “because _someone_ really wanted to go race our hoverbikes and couldn’t wait until the weekend.”

“You weren’t complaining at the time,” Shiro shrugged, smiling all the while.

“Ass…” Keith grumbled as he flopped down onto Shiro’s bed.

“On a more serious note. Sometimes people just need their space. If you’re really friends, Lance will come to you. Stop worrying so much, now get your Calc work so I can help you.”

Frankly, Keith thought, Shiro’s advice sounded like bullshit. The guy was just as much a shut in as Keith, just a bit more socially inclined, but there wasn’t much else he could do. He hated not being able to do anything. With a sigh he sat up and reached for his bag. Maybe he _was_ just overreacting.

~*~

He was not just overreacting. Lance was never this quiet _consistently._ Lunch was their time to catch up, to talk, to listen to Lance ramble on and on about any topic, to banter, but this… This was not what they’re lunches were normally like. This was weird.

They were sitting at their designated table, the one Keith had been using since day one. Generally, Lance would have his phone out, recently trying to educate Keith on “meme culture” whatever the fuck that was. Right now though, Lance was just silently picking at his food.

“Didn’t get your beauty sleep last night?” Keith prodded, attempting some semblance of normalcy.

Lance smiled, but it barely reached his eyes, “I’m still prettier than you, so it’s not like I missed much.”

Keith scoffed, “sure you are.”

Then there was silence. Keith waited for some other retort, a drag on his clothes, a comment about his “greasy mullet,” something, _anything_ , but there was only silence. Instead, Lance continued poking at his food, as if he wanted to eat, but it just wasn’t appetizing enough.

“Soooo,” Keith drew out, trying for casual and knowing he was about to fail miserably, “how was your nap last night?” God he wanted to hit himself, he sounded so stupid.

“Huh?” Lance looked up at Keith, confused.

“Your nap? The one we cut our study session early for?” Keith arched an eyebrow at Lance. “Remember?”

“Oh!” Lance chuckled awkwardly, “Y-yea, that was- it was good. Very good. Guess I got too much sleep, huh?”

The conversation seemed to end at that. Keith didn’t know what to say, and it didn’t seem like Lance was going to continue. Maybe he should just ask if he’s okay…

“Lance-”

“I think-”

They both stopped, and for a moment normalcy returned as they both laughed.

“You first,” Keith gestured to Lance.

“I think I’m going to head out. Um, probably no study session tonight. Sorry,” Lance stood up and shuffled awkwardly.

“Oh, um, okay!” Keith tried to smile reassuringly, but knew it wasn’t convincing. Lance turned to leave, taking his tray with him, as Keith called out. “Lance!” Said man turned back, and Keith averted his gaze. “Uh, feel better, okay?” He looked up to see Lance smiling softly.

Lance nodded. “Thanks, Keith.”

~*~

Keith tossed and turned in his bed. He had been trying to sleep for awhile now, but he just couldn't seem to settle down. Thoughts whirled and swirled in his head, never settling for a second. He could almost feel the walls closing down around him, closer, closer, _closer._

Keith groaned and kicked the blankets off his body. He hated these nights, when everything seemed so claustrophobic. With a sigh, he swung around so his legs were dangling off the side. He may have hated these nights, but what they entailed was still nice.

Keith put on his jacket, and it _was_ a jacket, _thank you very much Lance,_ and made his way to the door. He had to time this right or else he’d get caught. He glanced at the clock and smiled, he had 15 minutes until the next patrol came by. That was plenty of time to get to where he needed to go.

While his room was suffocating, the thrill of sneaking up to the roof countered out his nerves. All he felt was adrenaline as he peered around corners, avoiding the Garrison guards. It was by no means the same level of thrill that racing his hoverbike or flying the sim brought, but it was enough.

He slipped through the door that led to the roof, and immediately felt his body relax. God he loved being out here. The desert at night was a sight to see. The contrast between the light sand and the dark sky were amazing. He loved to just stare at it for hours.

But if the contrast of sand and sky was impressive, then the clear night sky, with its twinkling stars, was indescribable.

No where else would Keith get such a view of the night sky, of the stars shining bright, inviting him to explore their domain. _This_ was why he joined the Garrison. He wanted to touch the stars. He wanted to explore them, discover their secrets. Of course he probably wouldn’t in his lifetime, but he could set up for the future generations.

Keith took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. He wasn’t suffocating any more. He was free. He took a few steps forward, intent on walking to the edge and sitting, when he heard something.

He tensed up, hand instinctively going to his side, where he kept his pocket knife. Keith slowly surveyed the area. He had been too focused on the sky that he hadn’t bothered to check his surroundings first. Guards never came up here, though; Shiro had confirmed that ages ago, so who was-

Keith eyes landed on someone curled up near the edge. It only took him a moment to recognize the familiar jacket. He let his hand fall away from the concealed knife, and sighed. It was just Lance. He started towards him, intending on sitting with him, but as he got closer he noticed Lance shaking though, and slowed.

“Lance?” Keith called out as he inched closer.

Lance whipped around, body going frigid, before relaxing at the sight of Keith. “H-Hey, Keith. C-Come here often?”

Keith sat down next to him, and looked over at his face. He had thought that maybe Lance was cold, but upon looking at him up close that was obviously not the case. His eyes were bloodshot, cheeks flushed, and there were obvious tear stains on his face. Snot dribbled from his nose and he sniffled loudly, turning away from Keith’s gaze.

Keith recalled what Shiro had said, and sat there silently. If Lance didn’t want to talk he couldn’t force him, but as the silence stretched on, interrupted by an occasional sniffle, his nerves ate away at him. He wasn’t good at _not_ acting, and he wasn’t good with words, and-

He sighed, resigning himself to his awkwardness.  “I’m not the best with… words, but, I’m- I’m here for you, if, when, you want to talk.” Keith ran his hand through his hair.

Silence settled around them. Keith chose to focus on the view instead of his impending sense of dread and awkwardness. He found comfort in the stars. Maybe that’s why Lance was here, for that same comfort. Wouldn’t that be funny…

“I miss Varadero Beach, the pizza shack looking over the water, and the garlic knots, and my mom’s hugs...” Lance blurted out, “I miss my family. I miss Mamá yelling at me to wake up in the morning. I miss Violetta, and Lucas, and Blanca, and Alejandro.” A sob cut off Lance’s rambling, and he buried his face in his hands. Keith wrapped an arm around Lance and pulled him closer.

“I miss them so much, and I never thought I would. I mean, they’re annoying, and I _hated_ them when I lived with them.” Lance choked out a broken laugh. “I mean, Violetta would take forever in the bathroom in the morning, and Lucas always messed with me. Blanca and Alejandro were always following me around, and I was stuck babysitting them all the time. So why? Why do I miss them so much?”

Keith wrapped his other arm around him, practically pulling the other man into his lap. He wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn’t, he didn’t know how.

“They’re all out there becoming something, _doing_ something. Violeta is a stewardess, Lucas works with Hunk’s family, even Blanca and Alejandro are doing better than I am in school. Mamá and Papá paid so much to get me here, and what do I have to show for it?” Lance bunched his hands up in the fabric of Keith’s shirt and jacket. “I have nothing…”

Time dragged on as they stayed like that, sobs wracking Lance’s body, and Keith holding him close. Keith knew that his jacket would be covered in snot and tears, and that he’d probably have to wash it after, but he didn’t dare pull away.

Lance missed his family. God, he had every right to miss them too. From what Lance had told him, they had been a tight knit group, despite the sibling squabbles. Lance had gone to both his older siblings’ highschool and college graduations, he celebrated each of his younger siblings’ birthday like it was their first, and for his parent’s wedding anniversary he had stayed home, vowing to make sure nothing happened. They were close, so close.

Keith had never known that feeling, never knew what being that close to someone was like. Maybe he could though...

“I’m just a stupid cargo pilot…” Lance mumbled, so quietly that Keith barely made out what he said.

“Stop.” Keith said, pulling back from Lance and forcing him to look up at him. “You’re not a stupid cargo pilot, Lance. You’re smart, and determined, and dedicated. You’re literally one of the main reasons I’m passing my classes. Your family would be proud of you no matter what. From what they’ve told me they already _are_ proud of you.”

Lance sniffled, wiping away the tears from his eyes with his sleeve. “Thanks, Keith. Sorry about that…” He moved away, and Keith immediately missed his warmth. “I didn’t want to break down in front of you like that.”

Keith shrugged, “everyone needs to let it out once in awhile.”

 _Hypocrite,_ a voice sneered in his head, but he ignored it, focusing on Lance.

“Yeah,” Lance laughed softly.

Keith looked back out over the landscape. He wished he was better with words. If he was then he’d be able to help Lance more, he wouldn’t be useless. What was the phrase? Actions speak louder than words? Keith was good at acting, he was impulsive as hell after all, so if that was true…

“Are you free tomorrow?” Keith asked, turning to look at Lance. He had stopped crying, but his eyes were still puffy and his cheeks were flushed.

“Nothing but more pointless studying,” Lance said with a deprecating laugh.

“Besides that.”

“Nada.”

“Good. Meet me at the flight sims tomorrow after lights out.”

“What if I get caught?” Lance glanced at Keith, smirking.

“Lance, I’m not an idiot.” Keith rolled his eyes. “You’ve told me about all the times you’ve snuck out to go into town, not to mention the fact you snuck up here without getting caught.”

Lance chuckled softly, “fine, fine.”

Keith went back to admiring the sky, and they fell into a comfortable silence. Keith felt content. He had the skies above him and Lance beside him. He already had a plan on how to help Lance. If words weren’t his forte, than he’d rely on his actions.

~*~

Keith got back to his room after walking Lance to his dorm. Lance had given him a small smile, but it was leagues more genuine than his smiles from earlier throughout the day. Now, Keith was a man on a mission. He opened his laptop and opened up the messenger app a special friend had him download.

**KnifeChild: Pidge u up?**

**Rover4Pres2k20: duh**

**Rover4Pres2k20: u havent messaged me in ages**

**Rover4Pres2k20: what up?**

**KnifeChild: need a favor**

**Rover4Pres2k20: extra time in the sim?**

**KnifeChild: not for me**

**KnifeChild: for a friend**

**Rover4Pres2k20: o.o u have friends?**

**KnifeChild: haha real funny Pidge**

**Rover4Pres2k20: i know i am**

**Rover4Pres2k20: what days u need it**

**KnifeChild: every night?**

**Rover4Pres2k20: what the hell man do I have to message Shiro**

**Rover4Pres2k20: the last time you did this you practically worked yourself to death**

**KnifeChild: it's not for me!**

**Rover4Pres2k20: that's even worse**

**Rover4Pres2k20: trying to kill other ppl too**

**KnifeChild: ugh**

**KnifeChild: fine**

**KnifeChild: i havent asked him what days he's available yet**

**KnifeChild: i still need u tomorrow**

**Rover4Pres2k20: since you need me so badly, ill be there**

**KnifeChild: thanks Pidge**

**Rover4Pres2k20: don't mention it**

Keith closed the window and smiled. Pidge had never let him down before.

~*~

The next night, Keith was waiting outside the simulator doors for Lance. He had arrived early, and found everything turned on remotely and the security systems disabled. Pidge had followed through on her end of the deal. Keith had already checked to make sure everything else was in place. _Everything._ Now all he had to do was wait for Lance to show up.

Honestly, Keith was a bit worried that he would be a no show. Lunch had been less stressed, but the sadness was still obviously there. Lance had also taken another rain check from their study session that night, and Keith would be lying if he said he hadn't been nervous that Lance would ditch, but, as if answering his silent prayers, Lance's lithe frame entered the room.

“Sup, Mullet,” Lance grinned as he approached, hands in the pockets of his jacket.

“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?” Keith crossed his arms and smiled.

“Are you ever going to cut your hair?” Lance stopped in front of Keith and mimicked the shorter boy’s pose with a grin.

“Not on your life.”

“Then right back at you, buddy.” Lance said with a wink before stretching, “alright, Keith, why are we here. In an empty simulator room. Alone… Are you going to kill me?” Lance gasped. “After all we've been through?”

“I’m not going to kill you, drama queen. If I wanted to do that I would’ve brought you out into the desert. No witnesses, and easy clean up.” Keith said.

“I don’t know if I should be concerned that you’ve apparently thought this through, or comforted that you have.” Lance looked him up and down, and Keith could feel his face warm up at his scrutiny. “I could probably take you.”

That ripped a laugh from Keith, and he quickly slapped a hand over his mouth. They were technically in a restricted zone, at night, after curfew, and getting caught was not going to be a good thing.

“Doubtful,” Lance pouted at that, but Keith continued before he had a chance to respond. “Come on, we don’t have all night. I only got the sim for a few hours at most.” Keith walked over to the prepared simulator, using the passcode Pidge had given him ages ago to unlock it.

“How’d you do that? The sim is locked outside of class and study blocks.” Lance hovered over his shoulder. “Believe me, I’ve tried to get into them before.”

Keith smirked as the door to the sim slid open. “That’s because you didn’t have the right connections.”

“Oooh, Keith’s sucking up to the Commanders, wait until the people hear about this.” Lance said as he followed Keith into the sim.

“Oh, no, you’re wrong there.” Keith turned towards Lance, and he knew his grin was down right villainess. “I’ve sucked up to Pidge.”

~*~

“Lance, turn left!”

“Avoid the rocks!”

“Not that way, damn it!” Keith “instructed” from behind Lance.

“Don’t worry about it, man! You know what they called me in flight school? They called me the Tailor because of how I _thread the needle._ ” Lance looked back at Keith and waggled his eyebrows.

“God damnit, Lance, we’re still _in_ flight school!” Keith bit out before his eyes went wide, “Fuck, Lance, watch out!”

Lance turned back to the screen in time to see an asteroid collide with the screen, and the message “Simulation Failed” pop up.

Lance groaned loudly and slouched back. “Good going, Mullet, you distracted me.”

“It’s not my fault, you were being stupid!” Keith exclaimed, crossing his arms.

“If I’m so stupid, why the fuck are we here!” Lance lashed out, shooting a heated glare towards Keith. “How many times have I failed? Lost count yet? Because I sure have!” Lance slumped forward, head resting in his hands, and he sounded defeated. “Why are we even still here? It’s a lost cause.”

“Shit, Lance, that’s not…” Keith rubbed the back of his neck, pulling at his hair. This is why Keith shouldn’t ever try to help people. “One last time. I won’t lecture you, just, please, try one last time.” He was pretty sure Lance would decline, and honestly he wouldn’t blame him if he did.

“One last time?” Lance’s voice was muffled by his hands.

“One last time,” Keith said, and after a moment tacking on a please.

Lance took a deep breath and straightened. “No more back seat flying.” It wasn’t a question, but Keith nodded anyways. “Okay. Reset it.”

Keith went over to the controls, resetting the sim. He heard the machinery start up once again around him, and turned back to see the simulation restart. He walked back to his spot behind Lance, but stayed quiet.

Lance was silent now, no more showboating, as he focused all of his attention on the simulation. He maneuvered around the asteroid field better than he had before, cutting some very close calls that nearly made Keith shout out. He stayed resolute, not uttering a single word.

Keith glanced away from the sim, and down to Lance. His shoulders were slowly relaxing, and the frown that had been present slowly evened out. His eyes flickered all around the screen, taking in as much information as he could.

They hadn’t made it this far in their earlier trials, and Keith was dreading the upcoming twist. Navigating the asteroid field was one thing, it was supposed to be easy by the time cadets got to this level, so the real challenge came from the twist near the end.

Keith took a deep breath. Maybe this was too much, maybe he shouldn’t’ve messed with the simulator before hand. Maybe he should have just gone over basic maneuvers with Lance instead. What if Keith did more damage in the end, instead of good. He tightened his grip on the back of the pilot’s chair. It was too late. He had acted, and now he would deal with whatever the consequences would be.

Lance tensed, and Keith’s eyes flew back up to the screen. The moment of truth.

It was essentially a wall. The asteroids were packed so close together that only an expert pilot could make it through. There was no warning to this wall, you couldn’t stop or go around, it was find a way through, or fail.

Keith remembered what he had done. He had found the first opening he could and went through that. Nyma and Rolo had called him insane, shouted at him to rethink, to find a different area. It was compact, and the asteroids were unstable around it, but Keith went forward anyways. God it was impulsive of him, but he had seen a route and taken it.

They had barely made it.

Most of the others had failed their first time, even their second when this sim had popped up again. Keith had taken the risky option both times, and Shiro had told him that if it had been anyone else flying they would’ve failed. While that sounded congratulatory, it wasn’t entirely. Shiro had taken the time to remind him that he couldn’t just take the first option he found. He had to think things through.

Now he got to see how Lance would solve this twist.

The shuttle shifted, moving along the wall. This went on for awhile, and Keith felt his patience wearing thin. Wasn’t it obvious there was no end, no way around? But Lance kept going. If he kept this up he’d run out a fuel for sure.

Keith nearly lost his balance as Lance turned the shuttle towards the wall. A moment later Keith was blinded by a bright flash, and his hand instinctively came up to protect his sight. When the blur faded from his vision he was met with the sight of a growing hole in the asteroid wall as debris flew out. Lance waited a moment before coaxing the shuttle forward.

They were flying a fighter sim.

Lance had used his arsenal to destroy one of the larger asteroids.

The momentum of the pieces crashed into the other, smaller asteroids, and forced them away.

He had taken a moment and thought.

 _Simulation Complete._ Flashed up on the screen after Lance had gotten to the other side.

“There, it’s done.” Lance didn’t look back at Keith, and his voice held no emotion. “Are we done?”

“Yeah, we’re done.” Keith waited for Lance, but the man just walked right by him. Keith had pushed too far.

Lance stopped outside the sim, face neutral, but the rest of his body was tense. “Well, that was fun, definitely how I wanted to spend my night when I have classes the next day. Very helpful. Cya later,” Lance turned and began walking away.

“Lance, wait!” Keith called out. “I have one last thing to show you.”

Lance turned and frowned at Keith. “What? Just going to rub in my face how horrible I was even more? News flash, Keith, I know I suck, I don’t need you forcing me to do a sim to remind me of that.” Lance bit out.

“I’m not rubbing it in, Lance!” Keith exclaimed. He forced himself to calm down. _Patience yields focus,_ and all that jazz. “Just, please, I swear this will be worth it. I’m not trying to make fun of you.”

Lance snorted, crossing his arms, “whatever. Show me.”

Keith turned back to the sim’s log, pulling up their recent session. He sent the information to his data pad and erased the simulation log. He pulled out the pad from his jacket pocket, pulling up the data.

“Read this,” Keith said, handing the device over to Lance.

Lance took it. His face slowly morphed from barely withheld anger to shock. He looked up at Keith then back down and up again.

“Is this- did I really?” Lance asked. Keith smiled and nodded. “But... how? I can't even pass the intermediate levels.”

Keith crossed his arms, his smile growing, “maybe you just needed the right motivation.”

Lance barked out a laugh, punching Keith's shoulder. “You ass! I was so pissed off at you, man. Did you even think this through?”

“Honestly? Not at all. I figured if you could complete an expert level drill then maybe you'd feel better.” Keith’s smile turned sheepish, “I didn't really think about what would happen if you failed.”

Lance grinned, “you were just that confident in me, huh?”

“Don't let it get to your head.” Keith rolled his eyes.

“Too late! I, the amazing Lance, completed an expert level drill, with a nagging Keith in the background. I deserve an award.”

“I wasn't nagging,” Keith mumbled.

“Aw, buddy,” Lance wrapped his arms around Keith's shoulder. “It's alright, you’re just in denial.”

Keith rolled his eyes, “whatever. We should head back to the dorms. We _do_ have classes tomorrow.”

“Shit, we do… we could always skip?” Lance asked hopefully. Keith shot him a look and he deflated. “Fine, we won't skip, but we have to do this again. I mean, not this specifically, probably something easier. Just to warm up of course, since I can obviously beat expert level drills.” Lance rambled on as they began walking to the exit, arm still around Keith.

“Obviously.” Keith smiled. “If we set up a schedule, Pidge can make sure the sim’s open for us.”

“Deal!” Lance fist pumped. “Who _is_ Pidge anyways.”

“You'll find out.”

~*~

Lance and Pidge were horrible. Keith regrets introducing them to one another. He regrets it so badly. Pidge had gotten Lance to download her app, so that they could talk through the data pads, and to say that they had used it to bother Keith to no end would be an understatement.

**Sharpshooter: yo is this working?**

**KnifeChild: yeah**

**Rover4Pres2k20: yup!**

**Sharpshooter: holy shit**

**Sharpshooter: Keith is your name rly knifechild**

**KnifeChild: what about it?**

**Sharpshooter: omg this is priceless**

**Rover4Pres2k20: Shiro gave him the name after finding out about his knife collection**

**Sharpshooter: HE HAS A KNIFE COLLECTION?!?!?**

**Sharpshooter: y u no tell me these things man!**

**KnifeChild: because most people find it weird**

**Rover4Pres2k20: I mean**

**Rover4Pres2k20: it is weird but**

**Sharpshooter: aren’t knives contraband?**

**Sharpshooter: where the hell do you keep them?**

**KnifeChild: secret**

**Sharpshooter: aaaaaw come on man**

**Sharpshooter: u can trust me w/ ur secrets**

**Rover4Pres2k20: aren’t they in a box in our attic?**

**KnifeChild: Pidge!**

**Sharpshooter: wait waht**

**Sharpshooter: wat do u mean “our attic”**

**Rover4Pres2k20: I mean our attic**

**Sharpshooter: u 2 live together outside of Garrison?**

**KnifeChild: askgjasg**

**Rover4Pres2k20: LMAO**

**Rover4Pres2k20: HELL NO**

**Rover4Pres2k20: Shiro and my bro are friends**

**Rover4Pres2k20: he dragged Keith to our place a bunch**

**KnifeChild: it was annoying**

**Rover4Pres2k20: aw you love me**

**KnifeChild: l:**

**Sharpshooter: so do you live nearby or something?**

**Rover4Pres2k20: classified information**

**Sharpshooter: aw come on! Not u 2!!!**

An onslaught of spam from both Pidge and Lance followed. Keith had regrets.

~*~

Keith had easily recruited Pidge to be their comspec after she and Lance had met. She effortlessly hacked into the system and took over the speakers inside the sim. With communication out of the way, she ran her side of the sim from her computer. Meanwhile Keith had taken up the engineer position.

“What makes you qualified to be the engineer?” Lance taunted, spinning in the pilot's chair.

“I do the repairs for my and Shiro’s hoverbikes.” Keith crossed his arms and smirked at Lance’s dumbfounded expression.

“You have _what_?” Lance exclaimed, shooting forward at Keith, “You have to take me for a ride sometime, Keefers!”

Pidge snorted over the intercom, “ _yeah,_ **_Keefers_ ** _.”_

“Shut it, Pidge.” Keith said, his face heating up.

Lance had laughed at that and returned to his chair. “Seriously, though, you _have_ to take me out for a spin someday.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, let’s just start the sim, okay?” Keith grumbled, slouching into his seat.

Pidge just snorted again, but complied with Keith’s plea.

~*~

Lance was ecstatic after that, and, despite the lost sleep, he was closer to his bubbly self. He was riding off the high that completing the sim gave. Keith knew the feeling well from his own runs, but if there was one thing Keith also knew was that the high didn’t last.

Lance’s homesickness would come back. Homesickness may not be exactly the same as Keith’s loneliness, but they were both persistent feelings. Keith really had no idea how to help fight off the homesickness, he'd never actually experienced the feeling after all, but there had to be something he could do, right?

Then it hit him. Lance was Cuban, in a predominantly white facility. He had talked about all the things he had missed, the biggest being his family, and he couldn’t really bring his family here, _but_ he could do something else. Something that might just help.

Keith was going to learn Spanish.

~*~

Keith was not going to learn Spanish.

He could fly the sim, he could fix a hoverbike, and he could even read a good book, but he'll be damned if he tried to learn a language. He couldn’t for the life of him make sense of anything he was reading, and he had tried several different programs. Despite this, Keith wasn’t going to give up. If there was one thing that he and Lance shared extremely well is that they were both stubborn.

**KnifeChild: Pidge, i can’t do this**

That doesn’t mean he can’t complain about it though.

**Rover4Pres2k20: can’t do what?**

**KnifeChild: how do people learn languages?**

**KnifeChild: it’s impossible**

**Rover4Pres2k20: some people are more apt to learning things than others**

**Rover4Pres2k20: or maybe you just suck :P**

**KnifeChild: thanks, really helpful l:**

**Rover4Pres2k20: just ask Lance to help**

**Rover4Pres2k20: you said he was bilingual, right?**

**KnifeChild: i can’t…**

**Rover4Pres2k20: y?**

**Rover4Pres2k20: did you guys get into a fight?**

**Rover4Pres2k20: you guys were fine when we practiced yesterday**

**KnifeChild: no we didn’t have a fight**

**KnifeChild: i just**

**KnifeChild: ugh**

**KnifeChild: i’m learning spanish for him…**

**Rover4Pres2k20: what does that have to do w/ anything**

**Rover4Pres2k20: wait...**

**Rover4Pres2k20: omg**

**Rover4Pres2k20: this is beautiful**

**KnifeChild: Pidge no**

**Rover4Pres2k20: Keef has a crush!**

**KnifeChild: I swear to god Pidge don’t even**

**KnifeChild: it’s not a crush. We’re friends, and he’s homesick**

**KnifeChild: I just wanted to help**

**Rover4Pres2k20: sure sure**

**Rover4Pres2k20: but my point still stands**

**Rover4Pres2k20: ask him, turn it into another bonding activity**

**KnifeChild: how do I even bring that up?**

**Rover4Pres2k20: why are you asking me?**

**Rover4Pres2k20: i’m just as much a shut in as you are**

**KnifeChild: uuuuuugh**

**Rover4Pres2k20: oh just ask him**

**Rover4Pres2k20: get it over with**

Keith groaned. He had wanted to surprise Lance, but there was no way he was doing this alone. Lance _did_ have a way with explaining things. Not to mention he was a native speaker. If anything it’d be dumb to not ask him for help.

So what if Lance found out about the surprise a little earlier, and aided in pretty much all of the process. He’d probably still appreciate it, right?

~*~

Keith stood outside Lance’s room. He had been here for a few minutes, and he knew that several people had thrown him odd looks. It was study night, but Keith had other plans. He was going to ask Lance to teach him Spanish. He was. As soon as he saw Lance.

All he had to do was get the nerve to open the door.

Open the door.

Open. The. Door.

Open… the… door...

He wanted to hit himself. He was over thinking this way too much, just walk in, make some small talk, and then casual ask if Lance would be willing to teach him Spanish. Easy.

With that plan in mind he typed in the code, and walked through the door. Lance was sitting on his bed, materials spread out around him as usual. He looked up, and when he met Keith’s eyes he beamed.

“Buddy! I thought you were going to be a no show, what took you so long?” Lance asked.

“Teach me Spanish!” Keith blurted out.

They stared at each other, Lance in shock, Keith in mortification. That had _not_ been the plan there. That had not been the plan at all. The plan was to be smooth, to be casual, to not be a fuck up, and he had, well, fucked it up.

“If you want to, that is. You don’t have to teach me.” Keith floundered. “I mean, I’d like it if you did, but, like, I understand if you don’t want to. Oh god, I’m sorry, this is really random, and…” He trailed off, hand curling into the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Are-Are you serious?” Lance asked after a moment.

Keith swallowed, steeling his nerves, and met Lance’s gaze with determination. “Yes.”

Lance’s eyes seemed to water up as he grinned. “Of course I’ll teach you then! My Mamá always said I was a great teacher. I helped most of my Spanish class pass the class.” He puffed his chest out proudly.

Keith smirked, “sure you were.” He had no doubt about that, but the prospect of messing with Lance was too damn high to admit that fact.

“Oh? Doubtful, I see. Well, I’ll prove you wrong. I’ll be the best teacher you’ve ever had.” Lance began clearing up room on his bed. “Get over here, Mullet, hope you didn’t have anything important because we’re learning Spanish now.”

Keith couldn’t help but feel giddy. Lance’s enthusiasm was contagious, and their competitive streak certainly helped.

“Why’d you suddenly want to learn Spanish anyways?” Lance asked as Keith sat down on the bunk.

“No reason.” Keith shrugged, brushing off the question.

Lance regarded Keith for a moment, before rolling his eyes and smiling, “sure, Mullet, sure.”

~*~

“Oh come on, Pigeon. Live a little!” Lance whooped as he maneuvered through this night’s situation.

“ _Call me that again and I'll turn the Sims level up._ ” Pidge snapped, but Keith could tell that there was no real bite to it. Pidge acted tough, but was a secret softy. The fact that she continuously showed up for their designated training nights proved that.

“We could take it, couldn't we Keith?” Lance stole a glance back at Keith, and winked.

Keith flushed. “Probably not,” he said after a moment.

“Oh thanks for the vote of confidence there buddy.” Keith knew that Lance had rolled his eyes.

“Pidge wouldn't raise it one or two levels. She'd put it up near expert level, she's done it to me before.”

Pidge cackled over the coms. “ _It was hilarious._ ”

It was not hilarious. It had been hell. He had passed eventually, but it was _not_ hilarious. He took back his softie statement. She was the devil.

“Please tell me you have recordings of that,” Lance snickered.

“ _I have recordings of all of these sessions. I can send you some later if you want._ ” She offered.

“Pidge, don’t you fucking dare!” Keith growled.

Lance and Pidge just laughed, and he knew that he should’ve never introduced these two to each other.

~*~

Keith had laid down on the floor in Shiro’s room while the man looked over his work. He really was lucky to have Shiro. Probably the only person he could call friend. Well, not anymore. Lance and Hunk were his friends, and he and Pidge had begun to reconnect. Not to mention Lance’s insistence that he spend more time with his team, despite how shady Rolo was, and how much of a gossip hound Nyma was.

With everything Lance has done for him, he was glad he could finally give back. He can’t cure Lance’s homesickness, but he can be there to help, to support him. He can be there to ease the pain. He can be there, give Lance the presence that no one ever gave him-

“Oh, Keith.” Shiro’s voice cut through Keith’s thoughts, and Keith looked up at him. “I’ve been wondering, how’s Lance doing? Has he talked to you or anything?”

“Yeah, we’ve talked,” Keith said.

“And?”

“He’ll make it through,” a soft smile pulled at his lips, and his eyes softened. “I know he will.”

Shiro regarded Keith a moment longer, before sighing fondly and turning back to the papers he was reviewing. “That’s good.”

~*~

“Shit, Keith, buddy, pal, friend-o, I don’t think I can do this.” Lance paced the hallway outside of the testing room. His time slot for testing was coming up, and to say he was nervous would be an understatement.

Keith rolled his eyes, suppressing a sigh, “Lance, you’re going to do fine. You’ve been practicing nightly, on top of keeping up with all of your other work.”

“Yeah, but what if it’s not good enough? What if the simulations we were doing weren’t actually that hard? What if I freeze up and panic? What if-” Keith placed his hand over Lance’s mouth.

“Lance, stop.” They stared at each other before Keith continued. “When I remove my hand you’re not going to ramble, okay? You’re going to listen.” Lance nodded after a moment, and Keith dropped his hand. “You’ve practiced more than anyone I know. You’ve not only shot up in simulation levels, but you’ve completed sims in ways I didn’t even think you _could_ complete them. If you encounter a problem I _know_ you’ll find a logical solution because I’ve seen you do it every single night we’ve practiced.” Keith placed his hands on Lance’s shoulders, not breaking eye contact. “I believe in you.”

Lance’s eyes darted around his face, as if searching for something. Apparently he found it, because after a moment his face lit up. “Thanks, Keith.” Keith’s lips quirked upwards. “It seems you're finally getting better at the whole comforting people thing.”

“Hey!” Keith squawked out, as he shoved the cackling Cuban away from him. He crossed his arms, and scowled.

“Aw, Keith, keefers, keeeeef,” Lance draped himself over Keith. “Come on, I was kiiiiidding. Don’t brood.”

“I’m not brooding,” Keith tried to snap, if it had been anyone else he probably would’ve, but instead it lacked any real bite.

“No, no, you’re right.” Lance put his hands up in a placating gesture, but Keith could see the mischievous glint in his eyes. “You’re pouting.”

“I don’t pout, Lance.” Keith’s scowl, or pout, depending on who you asked, deepened.

“You’re like a kitten,” he cooed.

Before Keith could reply, the door to the simulation room was opening, and Lance’s relaxed demeanor straightened. A cadet walked out, looking the worse for wear, and Keith could practically hear Lance’s gulp.

“Welp, guess this is it?” Lance turned to Keith, giving him a shaky smile.

Once Lance was in that room Keith couldn’t help him. He couldn’t give advice, he couldn’t correct mistakes, but worst of all, he couldn’t be there. Screw everything else, Keith may be a horrible back seat driver, but he’d force himself to stay quiet if it just meant being a comforting presence in that room. Instead he gave Lance what he hoped to be a reassuring smile.

Lance took a shaky breath and turned to walk in.

“Go get ‘em, Tailor,” Keith called out without thinking, followed by what he hoped was correct Spanish. “T-Tienes suerte.”

Lance froze in the doorway, and turned back slowly. Keith watched as the shock slowly faded, replaced with a confident grin. “We’ll work on your Spanish more later, but thank you, Space Ranger.”

Lance’s posture straightened, and he radiated confidence. Keith watched the door slide closed behind him. Now all he could do was wait, and pray to whatever god existed that Lance passed.

~*~

“Guys I can’t do this,” Lance whined into his pillow. He had buried himself under a mound of blankets, some stolen from Hunk, when he heard the results for the Fighter Pilot program had been posted. That had been several hours ago.

“You have to check eventually, Lance.” Hunk said from his desk.

“Can’t you just do it for me buddy. Then we can eat some of your mom’s homemade cookies that she sent, and mourn my failure.” His voice was muffled by the pillow.

Keith pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re not a failure, Lance. You said yourself that you thought it went well. Now get up and let’s go. You can’t hide out all day.”

“Watch me,” was the grumbled reply as the mass of blankets and pillows shifted, and Lance’s head disappeared under them.

Keith could feel his patience evaporating, and he was about to snap out a remark when Hunk pushed himself out of his chair. Keith watched him warily as he stalked over to the bed.

“Sorry, buddy,” Hunk said before shoving his hands into the nest. Keith flinched, covering his ears, as Lance screeched. Hunk easily picked him up, throwing the lanky man over his shoulder, and turned to Keith. “Ready when you are.”

All Keith could do was stare at the engineer in awe. He knew that Hunk was strong, being a mechanic would do that to a person over time, not to mention working at his family’s bakery, but this was something else. The ease in which he had grabbed Lance, ignoring his screeches, was that of someone who had done this many times before.

Damn it, Keith was jealous. His daily workouts were nothing compared to that.

Keith pushed himself off the wall and activated the door, allowing Hunk to go first. He followed shortly after, watching Lance as he kicked and flailed like a child.

“Hunk, buddy, pal, please put me down. You didn’t even let me do my hair! What are the people going to think!” Lance tried to look back at his friend, pleading to no avail. “I can’t go out like this! I’m a fashion disaster. Let me go back to the room and change, and I’ll be out lickity split, I swear.” Keith tried not to let his amusement show, but the glare Lance sent his way proved that he had failed.

To be fair, Keith did feel a bit bad. It definitely looked weird being carried down the hallway in nothing but your pajamas. If the looks they were getting were anything to go by, Keith knew that the story would spread, and Lance’s “perfect” image wouldn’t be so perfect. The story would die down eventually though, and it was hopefully going to be worth it in the end. Just a few questions, then it’d be forgotten as something new came up. The fleeting embarrassment would be worth it, Keith knew.  He was confident Lance had passed, in fact, he felt it with such certainty that he would’ve bet money on it.

Lance’s voice brought Keith back from his thoughts. ”No, guys, seriously, I’m fine not knowing, in fact, let’s just go to the cafeteria, who needs fighter class anyways, guys? Please? Hunk, put me down.” Lance tried to sound serious, but his voice came out strained. “Hunk? Buddy?” Hunk remained silent, and Lance’s face fell.

Keith spotted the billboard as they turned down the corridor. No one else was around, seeing as it was the middle of the day on the Garrison’s free day. Keith felt a bit of tension drain from his shoulders at this. _If_ Lance really didn’t get in, then the shock wouldn’t be made public. That was _if_ he didn’t get in, and _if_ Lance didn’t get in, Keith would be having some choice words, and actions, with Commander Iverson. His position in the Garrison be damned.

Mutinous thoughts aside, Hunk deposited Lance back onto his feet with a grin. Lance crossed his arms and pouted up at Hunk, clearly displeased.

“We’re here!” Hunk clapped his hands together, and Lance went rigid.

“Nope, no, not happening, I can’t do this, I can’t look, end me now.” Lance covered his eyes and shook his head.

“Lance look.” Keith demanded.

“No-”

“ _Look.”_ Keith grabbed Lance and forced him around.

“What is it with you guys and being able to manhandle me? I really don’t appreciate-” Keith pointed past him to the board, and Lance followed it, his breath catching in his throat.

An unnerving silence settled amongst them.

“I-Is that? No. _No._ How-” Lance was lifted from the ground in a bone crushing hug.

“You did it buddy! I knew it!” Hunk said as he spun Lance in his arms.

“I-I made it. Hunk… Hunk _I made it_ !” Lance’s features lit up and he whooped loudly. “Hunk, my man, my main man, I freaking _made_ it!”

Hunk put Lance down, allowing him to stand on his own two feet. “I knew you could do it, buddy!”

Keith watched from the side as the two friends celebrated. His heart constricted in his chest at the sight, aching painfully. He was happy for Lance, but this wasn’t his place anymore, was it? Keith had helped Lance, his usefulness was done-

Keith let out a loud “oof” as a body collided with his own, wrapping him into a tight embrace. Keith’s hands hovered at his sides for a moment before he brought his arms up and around Lance’s frame. His breath hitched as he felt Lance nuzzle into his neck.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.” The words were quiet, barely a whisper, yet Keith heard him loud and clear. His heart soared at the words.

Keith squeezed back a little tighter, “I believed in you...”

Hunk cleared his throat loudly, and they were painfully reminded that they were in a public place. They jumped away from each other, not meeting one another's gaze. Hunk smiled knowingly, as if he was privy to something the other two weren’t.

“Who's ready to go out and celebrate!” Hunk said, and Lance cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

“Heck, yeah! Let’s go!” Lance grinned, and started to follow Hunk. He turned back after a moment, giving Keith a questioning look, “you coming, Space Ranger?”

Keith’s breath hitched as a foreign feeling filled his chest. He felt warm and content as Lance looked at him. His heartbeat pounded loudly in his ears as his focus narrowed down onto Lance, and only Lance.

Keith’s usefulness did not end here. Lance hadn’t befriended him just to use him and throw him away. Afterall, Lance had never tried to get anything from Keith, it had always been Keith trying to reach out to Lance. He had a place here, he was valued here. These people weren’t going to abandon him like all the others had, he was sure of it. Lance, Shiro, Hunk and Pidge were there for him now, and nothing would change that.

“Yeah, let's go, Tailor.” Keith grinned, and followed Lance down the hall.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Tienes suelos is along the lines of "You have luck" or good luck, its not necessarily the most correct way of saying it, but that was on purpose, cause Keith is just barely learning Spanish and has no idea what is "correct" or not. He's trying man, he's trying.
> 
> But yeah!  
> That all happened!  
> This was supposed to be so much shorter and then things happened, and it was great!  
> :3 Hope you lovely people enjoyed!  
> Stay awesome friends~


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